What a beautiful day,
The exodus continues from the News Journal/Delaware Online compound on Basin Road, New Castle.
Reporter Margie Fishman is leaving the newspaper/website after six years, a long stint by recent standards.
Fishman worked as an investigative reporter and will leave a void in the NJ’s already depleted reporting staff The number of news/business/legislative reporters has fallen to 11, a sharp contrast from the dozens working in the newsroom in the not-so-recent past.
Interestingly enough, the number of reporting “boots on the ground” is now matched by the headcount in the video, photo and digital/print production roles, according to the staff directory.
It’s part of a corporate emphasis on digital news and video. It is worth noting that some of the production work is done outside Delaware, with Des Moines.
Fishman wound up her time at the News Journal with an in-depth look at human trafficking and the state’s sometimes tepid response.
She offered the following Facebook farewell:
“This is my final story project for DelawareOnline. I’ve taken a position in the nonprofit sector. It’s been a real privilege to serve Delaware readers for the last six years. I’ve tried to hold people in power accountable while giving a platform for the voiceless.”
Meanwhile, the downsizing continues at parent company Gannett.
Heading to Basin Road are the print editions of theYork Daily Record, Lebanon Daily News, Chambersburg Public Opinion, Hanover Evening Sun, and the York Dispatch, according to those newspaper/websites. Forty-five jobs are affected in York.
It’s of a long-running trend toward centralized printing plants and ultra-early print deadlines.
There is also an unconfirmed report that Gannett has moved some non-news positions to Basin Road. Like most newspaper offices, the site is only partially occupied after the long-running wave of job cuts.
Meanwhile, check out our story links in this newsletter that may help fill a troubling news void. – Doug Rainey, publisher
